US Sen. Dianne Feinstein on nuclear energy and her 2012 re-election: “My plan is to run”

California U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, pressed by reporters Saturday about whether she’ll run for re-election in 2012, delivered a carefully worded but not entirely definitive answer: “My plan is to run,” she said.

Feinstein, the keynote speaker at the gathering of 1,800 delegates and party insiders this weekend at state Democratic convention in the Sacramento Convention Center, also spoke to reporters on the issue of nuclear power; she addressed its safety, its future, and the need for what she called “regional waste storage sites” for nuclear waste.

Our SFChronicle/SFGate.com’s Shaky Hand Productions was on hand to capture Feinstein’s gaggle with reporters following her speech Saturday.

First, here’s her quick response to us on re-election plans:

And here’s her lengthier discussion on the safety of nuclear power in the wake of the recent killer Japanese earthquakes. Feinstein said while she believes nuclear energy can be a safe form of power, “we have to be eternally vigilant” on safety issues.

Feinstein said “there has to be longterm storage” for nuclear waste, and said that “I think there ought to be regional waste storage sites.”